LAWMAKERS PASS BILLS ON AIDS, FLAG, FOSSIL AND DRUG PUSHING

Jennifer Halperin, Chicago TribuneCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Willfully and recklessly transmitting the deadly AIDS virus to another person would be punishable by up to 7 years in prison under legislation approved Monday by the Senate and sent to Gov. James Thompson.

As Thompson and legislative leaders focused on the unresolved question of tax increases, rank-and-file lawmakers entered the final scheduled week of the spring session, approving other bills that would ban pagers in schools, designate a state fossil and make it illegal to display the U.S. flag on a floor.

They also faced stepped-up pressure from Illinois members of the National Rifle Association, who held a small rally at the Capitol in anticipation of a vote on legislation that would ban most high-powered semiautomatic weapons.

Senators voted 42-12 to approve the AIDS-crime measure, despite concerns that it might prevent those likely to have the disease from taking a test for the HIV virus.

Sponsoring Sen. David Barkhausen (R., Lake Bluff) said the measure was not aimed at discouraging AIDS testing, but to ''discourage those who have the virus from engaging in the type of activities that spread it.''

As senators voted on one crime measure, about 100 NRA members gathered on the Capitol steps and took aim at defeating another bill that would make the sale, manufacture and possession of some semiautomatic guns illegal.

The controversial measure, which passed the Senate last week and likely will be called for a House vote Wednesday or Thursday, would ban semiautomatic rifles with a magazine of 10 or more rounds and handguns of 15 rounds or more. House supporters conceded they currently lack the votes to pass the measure, although a spokesman for House GOP Leader Lee Daniels said the Elmhurst Republican would vote for the measure.

- Flag displays: Legislation prompted by a student exhibit at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, making it a felony punishable by up to 3 years in prison to intentionally display the U.S. flag on the floor, was sent to Thompson on a 58-0 Senate vote. Approval of the measure came despite questions over its constitutionality in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week that said flag burning was a protected form of protest.

- Drug legislation: A measure that would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the commission of some drug-related murders was sent to Thompson on a 46-3 Senate vote. In addition, student use of pagers and beepers, which has been tied to the distribution of drugs, would be banned under two measures sent to the governor by the House and Senate. School boards could make exceptions to a ban, such as the use of beepers for medical reasons, under the measure.

- State fossil: The Tullimonstrum gregarium, or ''Tully monster,'' would become the official state fossil under a bill sent to Thompson on a 48-8 Senate vote. Thompson had vetoed a measure allowing the state`s schoolchildren to vote on the choice, saying a ''yes'' or ''no'' vote on the only candidate was un-American.